LACONIA ---- Shirley Elida Bascom Powers, 89, of Kinsman Drive in the Taylor Community, passed away Wednesday, December 1, 2021.
Shirley was born on January 31, 1932, in Concord, NH, the daughter of Rev. Eric Bascom Sr. and Rev. Elida (Frost) Bascom.
She lived for seven years in Canterbury where her father was a minister, and where the family of her future husband and love of her life summered. The Bascom family moved during the Great Depression to the family farm in Alstead, where Shirley attended a one-room elementary schoolhouse. Through 4H, she became a talented seamstress, later going on to sew for her family and professionally. Shirley graduated from Vilas High School in 1949 and matriculated at the University of New Hampshire, where she was re-introduced to Charles A. "Chick" Powers.
Shirley and Chick married in September 1950 in Alstead and their daughter Sheryl was born in 1951. Chick’s work took the family to New York City and Greenville, SC, where son Charles was born in 1954, and then to Montgomery, AL. The Powers family returned to New Hampshire in 1956 to assist Chick’s parents in running and maintaining the Tilton Mansion. Shirley worked at Tilton School from 1962 to 1994, serving as Head of Housekeeping for nearly all that time. Shirley and Chick lived in the mansion until the mid-1990s when they moved to Laconia and later retired to the Taylor Community. In 1998, Shirley embarked on fulfilling a longtime personal commitment to complete her college education, attending Notre Dame College and Plymouth State University, and graduating in 2003 with a B.A. in Theology.
Shirley led a very active life. Her loves were her family, friends, faith, community, education, and song. As a young parent, she served as a room mother in the Tilton-Northfield schools, president of the Tilton-Northfield PTA, Girl Scout and Cub Scout leader, and Sunday School teacher. Shirley and Chick attended the Northfield Tilton Congregational Church, and later became engaged members of the Sanbornton Congregational Church, UCC for decades. In addition to her local church activities, Shirley was active with the New Hampshire Conference of the United Church of Christ, where she served on various committees.
Shirley generously gave of her time, serving in numerous volunteer and elected positions over the years. She was recognized as 1988-89 Woman of Achievement by the Tilton-Northfield Business and Professional Women, 1998 Taylor Community Volunteer of the Year and a Paul Harris Fellow by the Nauset Rotary Club in Orleans, MA. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, she twice traveled to Biloxi, MS, to assist with efforts there.
In 2010, Shirley accomplished a lifelong goal of traveling to the Holy Land, visiting Israel, Egypt, and Jordan, where she determinedly rode camels, planted olive trees, and climbed (halfway) up Mt. Sinai to witness a beautiful sunrise — all just a few months after hip replacement surgery.
A lifelong member of church choirs, Shirley also sang in the Taylor Community chorus and the Pemigewassett Choral Society. Her voice will be missed.
Shirley is survived by her daughter Sheryl Powers Kropp; her son Charles T. Powers II (Janet); grandchildren, Jason L. Kropp (Sabreena), Adam C. Kropp (Anna), Christopher D. Powers, and Stephen M. Powers (Sheri); great-grandchildren, Calder and Eliana Kropp, and Karissa and Micah Powers; brothers-in-law, David E. Powers and (Joyce), and Albert L. Powers (Dee); sister-in-law, Joyce Bascom (widow of Paul); and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
Shirley was predeceased by Charles A. Powers, her husband of 50 years; brothers, Kenneth E. Bascom (Ruth; Laura), Eric W. Bascom Jr. (Frances; Beth), J. Rodney Bascom (Frances), and Paul F. Bascom; sister-in-law, June Powers (wife of Albert); and son-in-law, Peter J. Kropp.
A Celebration of Life will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, January 15, 2022, at the Sanbornton Congregational Church, 21 Meeting House Hill Road, Sanbornton, NH 03269.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Charles and Shirley Powers Memorial Fund, Sanbornton Congregational Church, UCC, 21 Meeting House Road, PO Box 1265, Sanbornton, NH, 03269.
Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 164 Pleasant St., Laconia, NH 03246, is assisting the family with arrangements. For more information and to view an online memorial, please visit www.wilkinsonbeane.com.